Review Detail

9.4 29 10
Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
When I first discovered the whole idea of fan editing, an attempt to turn episodes of Clone Wars into feature length movies was something that I actually wanted to do. I love the show, but the idea of having a series of movies that show the development of the key characters over the course of the conflict to bring it in line with the main Star Wars movies seemed to make so much sense. I even went as far as putting together several and came to the conclusion that it just wasn't possible, especially with the early seasons which were a lot more episodic than those that came later. After watching Smudger9's Army of the Republic I've learned two things: (1) it's absolutely possible, and (2) I think I'm going to leave this to the expert!

The decision to focus on two plots - that of the clones as well as Anakin and Obi-Wan - really worked, especially considering the Battle of Kamino at the end actually brought the two strands together effectively, even if the Jedi never directly interact with the Clone Troopers we've been following. The fact that these two plots connected gave it a solid narrative through-line that felt satisfying.

The use of dialogue from other episodes to connect the strands was done effectively. I'd tried to do it in my attempted edit and the results were poor. While I could tell where these inserts took place, my wife (who has only seen the episodes through once and was therefore not as familiar as I am with where the episodes fall chronologically) couldn't tell at all.

Transitions between scenes looked great and it really felt like a theatrical release throughout.

I suppose my only quibble plot-wise may be Ventress's introduction. Because she'd already appeared in the 2003 Clone Wars cartoon, Obi-Wan and Anakin's familiarity with her was in place right from the start of this series. However, could it have been possible to add some lines to make it seem like this was their first encounter? Perhaps make her a mysterious assassin that we find more about as the series of movies continue? It feels like this movie takes place early in the Clone Wars so to have had so much happen already seems more in media res than Star Wars sometimes is. Mind you, having attempted to play with the plot using lines from other episodes I know how challenging it would be, especially if no so such dialogue existed that worked.

That said, that was really my only issue. From the opening "A long time ago..." until the closing credits this felt like the Clone Wars movie that should have been on the big screen! I can't wait for Episode II - and beyond!

User Review

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